WASHINGTON - DoD scientists and contractors are working to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a smallpox vaccine developed by the military a decade ago, according to an Army medical researcher at Fort Detrick, Md.

WASHINGTON - The first 20 U.S. service members have arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia, and will begin training the Caucasus republic's troops in counterterrorism operations, Defense Department officials said April 30.

WASHINGTON - War gamers at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., are testing the envisioned capabilities of the U.S. military of tomorrow -- a quickly-deployable, interoperable, high-tech force with global reach -- today.

WASHINGTON - You wouldn't expect to find Popeye, Kermit the Frog, Gumby and Pokey prominently displayed in a senior military leader's office. Yet, that's what you find when you enter the world of Vincent W. Patton III, master chief petty officer of the U.S. Coast Guard.

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 28, 2002 - Kazakhstan is ready to do more in the global war against - ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 28, 2002 - Kazakhstan is ready to do more in the global war against terrorism, top government officials here told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today.

TURKMENBASHI AIRPORT, Turkmenistan - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today thanked the people of Turkmenistan for their support in the fight against terrorism and for providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - The people of Afghanistan are in far better circumstances today because Kyrgyzstan opened Manas International Airport to U.S. and coalition forces, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here this morning.

WASHINGTON - Then-Navy Lt. Kevin Shaeffer remembered seeing the sky and the Army sergeant who would save him after staggering out of the blasted offices of the Navy's Pentagon command center just after the terrorist-hijacked airliner struck the building.

WASHINGTON - The war on terrorism, living conditions for service members in Korea and shipbuilding were among the questions senators asked of President Bush's nominees to be the new U.S. Pacific Command chief and United Nations Command chief.

WASHINGTON - You can join a panel of military personnel and citizens April 30 at 11 a.m. EDT as they share their views on patriotism and freedom during a one-hour Internet webcast and satellite transmission.

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces continue to encounter sporadic attacks in eastern Afghanistan, but it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where they're coming from, Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa said at a Pentagon briefing this morning.

WASHINGTON - As a child on the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, Bernard Turiel remembers listening to his parents and their friends talk about Jews being executed in concentration camps in Germany and Europe.

WASHINGTON - The fact that terrorist states and networks are striving to acquire weapons of mass destruction has heightened the stakes in the global war on terrorism, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.

NATICK, Mass. - Whether Marines are wading through desert sands or jungle rivers, the Improved Jungle- Desert Boot will keep their feet better protected and more comfortable than ever. Taxpayers will like the money saved, and supply sergeants will like not having to store two kinds of boots.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military's senior officer said April 18 that other countries will be geographically aligned with U.S. unified commands in order to better address mutual security issues, not for political reasons.

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a joint-service audience here April 18 that the transformation of the Department of Defense cannot be put on hold while the nation pursues the global war on terrorism.

WASHINGTON - DoD doesn't anticipate hiking current levels of U.S. military support to the Philippines as part of efforts to suppress terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today at Fort Lewis, Wash.

WASHINGTON - Two videos shown this week on Arab television networks allegedly show Osama bin Laden praising the results of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. But U.S. officials said they believe the shots of bin Laden in the tape weren't taken recently.

WASHINGTON - Four Canadian soldiers were killed early today and eight others seriously injured when an U.S. fighter jet dropped at least one 500-pound bomb on their position near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Canadian defense officials said.

WASHINGTON - Members of a South Korean religious delegation today presented DoD Comptroller Dov S. Zakheim with a check for $110,000 to be used for a new Pentagon memorial meditation area sponsored by military chaplains.

WASHINGTON - Four American soldiers were killed and another injured in Afghanistan this morning when a 107 mm rocket exploded while the troops were destroying captured weapons near Kandahar, according to U.S. Central Command officials.

WASHINGTON - One of the America's greatest strengths is the ability to develop and deliver new, effective technologies to the battlefield, but experts in various agencies need to coordinate their efforts better, Sen. Mary Landrieu said April 10.

WASHINGTON - It's not necessarily a bad thing if your thinking is somewhat different from your peers and superiors. You might be one of the creative minds America's armed forces need, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz.

WASHINGTON - Computers, instant communications and global networking can transform the U.S. military just as they have the commercial world, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told Congress April 9.

NATICK, Mass. - Using a finger of his glove, a soldier determines if water is safe to drink. He takes a rolled- up cloth keyboard from his pocket, plugs it in and starts typing a message. Calling for support, his radio sends and receives signals using an antenna blended into his uniform.

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. - The nation's top military officer told a Harvard University audience April 4 that the fight against terrorism is the most important assignment given the U.S. military in his 37-year career.

WASHINGTON - Much has been achieved in the six months since U.S. forces began combat operations in Afghanistan, yet much remains to be done, "and it will continue to be dangerous business in the days ahead," Army Gen. Tommy Franks said today.

WASHINGTON - Quadrennial Defense Review stratagems that emphasize change are helping the U.S. military and its allies to win the war against global terrorism, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told national security students April 1.

SPRINGFIELD - Sixth-grader Meghan Argo recently took the news of winning the Armed Services YMCA Art Contest 2002 with squeals of delight. Last year at about the same time, she was the one who answered a similar call to learn two of her sisters had taken first- and second-place prizes.

WASHINGTON - A period of early enrollment into the new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program is now open. Federal personnel managers estimate as many as 20 million people are eligible to use this new benefit.

WASHINGTON - "What's happening in the Middle East is terrible. It is a tragedy. It is terrorism," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon today. "Innocent people are being killed -- men, women and children of all religions."

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Families of the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt had a lot to celebrate at the homecoming reception March 27, and the Naval Air Station Oceana Commissary made sure the celebration cake approached aircraft-carrier size.